Science and Technology
Categories
Not sure where to start? Choose a topic below.
Measurement technique can image how heat moves through material
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Infrared cameras create images by detecting the heat given off by an object, including the body of a soldier hidden in the dark of night. Now, researchers have developed a technique for imaging how fast heat can move through an object. Thermal conductivity – the rate at which heat flows through a […]
Fatty acid pathway, glucose produce triacetic acid lactone
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Scientists at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have designed a potential roadmap to use a biosynthetic pathway taken from a common microorganism to produce compounds that could serve as precursors to explosives or components in everyday devices such as liquid crystal displays or anti-cancer agents. In a presentation April 1 at […]
New technique uses household humidifier to create nanocomposite materials
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – In what may sound like a project from a high school science fair, scientists are using a household humidifier to create porous spheres a hundred times smaller than a red blood cell. The technique is a new and inexpensive way to do chemistry using sound waves, the researchers say. In the home, […]
CARMA groundbreaking set for March 27
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Astronomers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign will be major participants in the construction and operation of a new millimeter-wave telescope array to be located in the high desert of California. Groundbreaking for the facility – called the Combined Array for Research in Millimeter-Wave Astronomy – is set for 2 p.m. […]
New polyelectrolyte inks create fine-scale structures through direct writing
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Like spiders spinning webs, researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign are creating complex, three-dimensional structures with micron-size features using a robotic deposition process called direct-write assembly. As reported in the March 25 issue of the journal Nature, Jennifer Lewis and her research team have developed novel inks that readily flow […]
Biotechnology ‘investment visionary’ to speak at Illinois
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – A longtime leader and promoter of biotechnology will speak about the potential for state and regional development of the industry at 2 p.m. Wednesday (March 17) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. G. Steven Burrill, chief executive officer of Burrill & Co., will speak in Room 102B of the Chemical and […]
High-performance, single-crystal plastic transistors reveal hidden behavior
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Printing circuits on sheets of plastic may offer a low-cost technique for manufacturing thin-film transistors for flexible displays, but maximizing the performance of such devices will require a detailed, fundamental understanding of how charge flows through organic semiconductors. Now, an unusual way of fabricating single-crystal organic transistors has allowed scientists to probe […]
Toxin combination common in fish appears capable of impairing motor skills
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Pups of female rats exposed to a combination of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and methylmercury (MeHg) slip and fall more often trying to maneuver on a rotating rod than do pups from non-exposed moms, scientists say. The findings, published in the February issue of the journal Toxicological Sciences, come from a study focusing […]
Insights gained from molecular modeling may lead to better insecticides
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – One of the most damaging crop pests, the corn earworm, may be outwitting efforts to control it by making structural changes in a single metabolic protein, but new insights uncovered by molecular modeling could pave the way for more efficient insecticides, say researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. In a […]
Exercise sharpens focus, decision-making among aging adults
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Aging adults who give up a sedentary lifestyle and replace it with a cardiovascular fitness regimen as simple as brisk walks reap greater focus and reduced decision-making conflict as they perform a variety of tasks, scientists say. That conclusion comes from a study that utilized functional magnetic resonance imaging to measure changes […]
Human evolution at the crossroads: Integrating genetics and paleontology
Champaign. Using her own research on the teeth of baboons as a case in point, Leslea J. Hlusko said that some of the traits considered important to human evolution, such as the thickness of molar enamel, may be too simplistically interpreted by some paleontologists. Hlusko organized a Monday symposium on human evolution at the annual […]
Hidden order found in cuprates may help explain superconductivity
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Like the delicate form of an icicle defying gravity during a spring thaw, patterns emerge in nature when forces compete. Scientists at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have found a hidden pattern in cuprate (copper-containing) superconductors that may help explain high-temperature superconductivity. Superconductivity, the complete loss of electrical resistance in some […]